Indoors

As Baby becomes mobile - begins to roll, crawl and eventually pulls herself up:

• Ensure that she has plenty of clear floor space around for free movement. Also sharp cornered furniture becomes a hazard for bumping heads on.
• Don't leave breakables in Baby's reach (e.g. small glass drink bottle or coffee cup on the floor beside a lounge).
• The floor and other surfaces (e.g. low coffee tables) need to be clear of small objects that can cause choking.
• Have no tablecloths or runners hanging over the edge of a table.
• Cupboards need to have child-proof latches attached. Poisonous household products e.g cleaning products need to be out of Baby's reach.
• Doors become hazards - fingers can be caught in the hinge side of a door. Put a wedge firmly under doors or latched them back to prevent any movement.
• Make sure that stairways are locked off so Baby does not tumble down or crawl up unsupervised. (When my children were young their bedrooms were up a flight of stairs. Although the stairs were locked off for their safety, by about 12 to 13 months of age they learned how to crawl up and how to get down backwards by stretching themselves length-ways and sliding down. Thankfully the stairs were carpeted! They quickly realised that going down was more fun than going up. Although I continued to supervise the challenge of the stairs they were quite competent users by about 16 months of age.)
• Ensure saucepan handles are turned to face away from the front of the stove and the area around a hot oven is guarded.
• Heaters and fireplaces need to be out of Baby's reach.